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Sunday, September 9, 2012

Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

by:  Hannah Harrington
published by:  Harlequin Teen
publish date:  August 28, 2012

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.


Chelsea is the one of the most popular girls in school, second only to her best friend.  She is a self proclaimed gossip hound.  Then at a party she stumbles on secret that she knows that she should keep, but immediately spills to the other guests at the party.  It leads to someone getting beaten nearly to death.

Chelsea, feeling remorse over her actions, tells her parents what happen who in turn call the police.  This leads to Chelsea's social suicide at school.  Everybody is mad at her for not leaving things alone.  So she takes vow of silence because it's safer than talking.

I think I might be one of the few people that didn't totally hate Chelsea in the beginning.  Yes, she was a self-absorbed mean girl, but I also saw her as just a kid.  I never felt like she intended for anyone to get hurt and didn't understand that there would be actual consequences for her actions.  Throughout the book Chelsea grew up a lot.  She learned a lot about not only forgiving others, but also herself.

Speechless was a great book.  I really enjoyed the whole thing.  The characters were very relatable and their relationships believable.  This was particularly well done with the love interests.  Often in YA they are too rushed, but I felt like in this book it moved along at a rate it probably would in real life.

There were a few mature situations in this book, but overall it wasn't too bad.  I don't think it needs any parental warning labels if it's in the hands of a somewhat mature teen reader.

Want to read more reviews of Speechless?  Check out:
LadyBug Storytime
Nick's Book Blog


3 comments:

Jade @ Chasing Empty Pavements said...

Yay! I'm looking forward to this one. I loved Saving June so I was anxious to pick up this one and see what it was like. From most of the reviews I've read, it seems like another great one from the author. Thanks for sharing!

The Insouciant Sophisticate said...

I'm really excited about this book-I liked Saving June a lot so I think this one will come through to me. I think I'll like Chelsea a lot too as she seems like a person with a good heart who is still just a kid and prone to making mistakes.

Autumn said...

I never read Saving June, but I think I'll have to go back and check it out. This book made me a fan of Hannah Harrington for sure.